


Avert Your Eyes

by Schonste (Churchwarden)



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-12
Updated: 2011-01-12
Packaged: 2017-10-14 16:50:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/151406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Churchwarden/pseuds/Schonste
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Julian wakes up in a daze somewhere very hot and can't quite explain why.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Avert Your Eyes

When Dr. Bashir’s eyes blearily slide open, he can hear the off-kilter, fuzzy feedback of muffled sounds all around him. There’s a huge blur that begin to focus into shape, though the first things he sees are five waving gray sticks. His hearing seems to be coming back as consciousness reactivates those synapses in his brain.  
  
“..tor? Doctor. How many fingers am I holding up?”  
  
Bashir blinks twice very slowly, and he tries not to wince, his own medical training filling his resetting brain. “Five, Garak,” he says, recognizing him. “What happened?” Only now can he feel just how warm he feels, his uniform clinging to him as though he were in a jungle.  
  
There’s a tiny change to the face that is coming into focus near his, now. Twitching lips that are about to betray a worried look that twist into a smirk. “You fainted at the sight of me,” Garak smirks. Bashir’s eyes narrow and suddenly he can see that the rest of Garak is just as gray as his bare face and fingers, and that’s when his eyebrows draw slowly up. “It’s possible that the heat had something to do with it as well, though I’m choosing to associate your dizzy spell with my dazzling beauty and not the hundred and thirty degree atmosphere. Up you go.” Garak’s nude arm tucks under Bashir’s armpits, pulling him up. They’re in a cave, Bashir sees now, and it’s humid and terribly hot.  
  
“While I appreciate your attempt to join me in the sauna, doctor,” Garak murmurs, leading them to a more open area of the catacombs, where most of the steam is rising into a huge dome decorated with vines and chiseled marble tiles. “It is clear that my naked beauty has left you rather in a daze.”  
  
The temperature has dropped to a balmy ninety-eight and Bashir finally pulls himself free of Garak’s guidance, embarrassed by the manhandling. He had intended to surprise the man, much as Garak had done during their first holosuite adventure together, but the heat had gotten to him before he had even gotten to Garak. He also notices with a sense of detached relief that Garak isn’t totally naked when his eyes draw up and down his surprisingly athletic-looking figure.  
  
“The pools here are for cooling us off, but you should be content to soak. I’ll come back for you—I must say, I’m feeling rather chilly at the moment.” Garak’s sharp gaze focuses in on Bashir; it’s confident and a little nerve-wracking. “Oh, and one more thing, doctor. Isn’t it illegal to interrupt someone’s holo program?”  
  
Bashir is going to respond, but Garak has already turned and strolled back towards where the caves are so hot that he distorts in the humid atmosphere. He swears that he can hear Garak’s chuckle bouncing off the walls back at him, rippling like a mirage. Bashir is tempted to leave, still in his CMO uniform that weighs at least five kilograms more since it is so damp, but he finds himself stripping down to nothing and slipping into the steaming pool of orange-tinted water.  
  
He’s sure that Garak won’t be mad at him. After all, hadn’t he just fainted at “the sight of the Cardassian’s beauty”? Bashir smirks, sinking down to his chin in the water. One of these days, he thinks, staring up at the ceiling and knowing he will be back here more often. One of these days, Garak will have to stop being so prim and just  _have_  him. Until then… Bashir’s toes spread out and an insufferably satisfied smile grows on his face. Until then, I’ll just have to come up with more excuses to faint.


End file.
